President Prabowo: Education, Empowerment are Keys to Poverty Reduction

President Prabowo Subianto holds a Cabinet Meeting at Merdeka Palace, Jakarta, on Wednesday (11/5). (Photo by: BPMI of Presidential Secretariat)

President Prabowo Subianto on Wednesday (5/11) held a cabinet meeting with some ministers of the Red and White Cabinet at Merdeka Palace, Jakarta. The meeting discussed the Government’s strategic step to accelerate poverty alleviation through two main approaches, education and community empowerment.

Coordinating Minister for Community Empowerment Affairs Muhaimin Iskandar stated that President Prabowo delivered firm instructions for poverty reduction strategy to be implemented concretely and measurably, involving education and manpower sectors.

“One of the key points is to tackle poverty by cutting poverty cycle through two strategic measures. The first is education – the most concrete example is Sekolah Rakyat (the People’s School) program and its developments. Next, together with Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs, we will consolidate education as an integral part of addressing unemployment and the challenges of the future labor market,” Muhaimin told the media.

He also explained that President Prabowo instructed a comprehensive enhancement of vocational education capacity to make it more relevant to industrial needs and labor market demands. The Government will expand vocational training programs through both public and private training centers.

“There will be more vocational training programs to help high school and vocational school graduates enter the job market more quickly, both domestically and abroad. We will involve public and private training centers to ensure alignment with labor market needs,” said Muhaimin.

In addition, President Prabowo emphasized the importance of revitalizing vocational schools so that their curricula and management systems are oriented toward preparing future workforces.

“The President has instructed the revitalization of vocational schools, where both education curriculum and management should be oriented toward preparing students to meet future employment demands,” said Muhaimin.

During the meeting, President Prabowo also stressed the importance of state investment in building human resource capacity. According to Muhaimin, the Government is ready to allocate funding to strengthen students’ and graduates’ skills, including foreign language proficiency.

He added that the Government will continue to strengthen cross-ministerial coordination, especially with Coordinating Minister for Human Development and Cultural Affairs, to ensure that community empowerment programs are effective and have a direct impact on poverty reduction.

“We will work earnestly on the empowerment dimension in tackling poverty through various programs,” he concluded.  (BPMI of Presidential Secretariat) (RD/MMB)